A man in his 40s was arrested in the U.K. in connection with a cyberattack that disrupted several European airports over the weekend, Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) said.
The man was arrested late Tuesday on suspicion of offences involving the misuse of computers “as part of an investigation into a cyber incident impacting Collins Aerospace,” which provides check-in desk technology for airlines, the NCA said.
The cyberattack affected the software of Collins Aerospace at several European airports over the weekend. Passengers were unable to print boarding passes and bag tags and dispatch their luggage.
The suspect was released on conditional bail after being detained in West Sussex, England on suspicion of offences under the Computer Misuse Act, which makes certain unauthorized activities involving computer systems illegal, the NCA said.
“Although this arrest is a positive step, the investigation to this incident is in its early stages and remains ongoing,” Paul Foster, NCA deputy director, said in a statement.
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“Cybercrime is a persistent global threat that continues to cause significant disruption to the U.K. Alongside our partners here and overseas, the NCA is committed to reducing that threat in order to protect the British public.”
Collins Aerospace cited a “cyber-related disruption” to its software on Sept. 20 at “select” airports in Europe, including in Brussels, London and Berlin.
The affected airports advised passengers to check the status of their flights before travelling to the airports, and to use alternative check-in methods.
“Work continues to resolve and recover from Friday’s outage of a Collins Aerospace airline system that impacted check-in,” a statement from London’s Heathrow Airport said. “We apologize to those who have faced delays, but by working together with airlines, the vast majority of flights have continued to operate.”
The European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) said Monday that ransomware was used to cause chaos in the airports over the weekend.
“Law enforcement is involved to investigate” malicious software that locks up data until the victim pays to have access restored, the ENISA agency said in a statement to Reuters, without saying where the ransomware attack originated from.
— with files from The Associated Press and Reuters
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